Gen Z's Intimate Relationship With Emojis

Monday 17 July is World Emoji Day. The unofficial holiday celebrates emojis and their use in daily communication.

New technologies bring with them new communication styles, whether that’s longer form emails, shorter texts, or now even ‘likes’ with a simple thumbs up. Emojis have evolved into a language of their own, spoken by people around the world.

Adobe’s Future of Creativity 2022 report provides valuable insight to the world of emojis for users in the United States, looking across both geographical and demographic lines. It reveals how Americans perceive emojis as playing a variety of social roles, from fostering empathy for others to improving workplace efficiency and even boosting mental health.

In the world of dating too, emojis have become an indicator for how some people perceive the health of their romantic relationships. As the following chart shows, as many as one in three Gen Z’ers have ended a relationship with someone using an emoji. Meanwhile, 58 percent of the age group say they are more likely to seek out a second or third date with someone who communicates using emoji.

According to the report, male U.S. emoji users tend to lean on emoji more than female users when flirting or dating: 76 percent of men say they are more likely to use emojis in conversation with someone they are interested in, versus 68 percent of females. Similarly, a higher share of men (68 percent) say they would assume their relationship with someone is going well if they are using more emojis when talking to each other, versus females (56 percent).